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ENVIRONMANTAL IMPACTS OF AGRICULTURAL
PLASTICS
Serpil Guran Ph.D.
The EcoComplex “Clean Energy Innovation Center”
December 9, 2019 , ATHENS, Greece
EcoComplex Overview
• The EcoComplex is a multidisciplinary clean energy, environment and
agricultural technologies innovation center established in 2001.
• Harnesses research and education resources in the development and
commercialization of innovative technologies.
• Serves as a “Business Incubator” and currently houses 7 start-up
companies (over 50 companies incubated to date).
• Recent INBIA “Impact Award” for “Specialty Incubator”
• Designated a “Soft Landings” incubator for international companies
seeking to establish a business in New Jersey.
2
EcoComplex Team Activities
• Research; FEW Nexus, Circular Carbon Economy, Waste Reutilization, Sustainable Agriculture
• Teaching : Sustainability, Innovative Bioenergy Technologies
• Support for Innovation Ecosystem Creation: Business Incubation, Acceleration, Meet Ups & Boot Camps & educational cohorts.
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Why is Plastic Waste Drawing More Attention?
4https://www.unenvironment.org/interactive/beat-plastic-pollution/
“Export of Plastic Debris by Rivers into the Sea” by Christian Schmidt, Tobias Krauth, and Stephan Wagner, published in Environmental
Science & Technology (2017)
10 rivers carry more than 90% of the plastic waste that ends
up in the oceans*Chang Jiang (Yangtze) river delivers 1.5 million tons of
plastic waste into Yellow Sea*
5https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/our-work/activities/new-plastics-economy/2016-report
Current Flow of Plastic Packaging
State of Plastics!
• Global plastics production reached to 381M tons in 2015 with total volume of plastics ever produced 34B tons.
• Yearly production is expected to double by 2035 and quadruple by 2050.
• 15M tons of plastics waste traded in 2016 globally with China being the top importer and US the largest exporter.
• 2018 January China cancelled its global imports unless its completely uncontaminated.
• Single stream recycling increased the quantity of the recycled materials but reduced the quality.
6
Environmental Footprint of Plastics:
• Production is highly dependent on virgin fossil feedstock (NG and oil).
• Greenhouse gas emissions from plastics were estimated to be 1.8 Billion metric tons of eCO2 in 2015.
• It takes approx. 22 gallons (83 liters)of water to make a lb. of plastic.
• Land degradation and water contamination and impacts to food systems are extreme.
• UN estimated that the natural capital cost of plastics on environmental degradation, climate change and health to be about $75B /year
7*http://www.stapgef.org/sites/default/files/documents/PLASTICS%20formatted%20for%20posting.pdf
• Most plastics contain toxic chemical additives including persistent organic pollutants (POP) that may be linked to cancer, mental, reproductive and developmental diseases.
• Short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCP), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybromodiphenyl (PBDEs including tetrabromodiphenylether (tetraBDE), pentabromodiphenyl ether (pentaDBE), octabromodiphenyl ether (octaBDE) and decabromodiphenyl ether (decaBDE)), as well as endocrine disruptors such as bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalate.
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Agricultural Applications of Plastics
• Fossil-based plastics have significant role in our lives.
• At least 10-15 items either full or partially made out of plastics . i.e. medical devices, phones, efficient food storage and better cars.
• Low-cost production since virgin plastic feedstocksare cheap and abundant!
• Also, plastics have become an integral part of agriculture at least for the last 40-50 years.
• The total US agricultural plastics generation is approx. 400,000 tons/year.
9
EU Plastic Waste Generation
10*A European Strategy for Plastics in a circular economy,
• 25.8 million tons of plastic waste are generated in Europe per year.
• 5% is agricultural plastic waste approx. 1.3 million tons agricultural plastic waste.
• Landfilling and incineration rates of plastic waste are 31 % and 39 %, respectively.
• In the EU, 150,000 to 500,000 tons of plastic waste enter the oceans every year.
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EU Plastic Waste Generation
Agricultural Applications of Plastics
• Plastics helped raising record food and fiber crops:➢ Early season crop production
➢ Higher yields per acre
➢ Higher quality produce
➢ Control of pathogens
➢ Decreased costs-cheaper than building permanent storage
➢ More efficient use of water, fertilizer and pesticides
➢ Increased transplant survival
➢ Cold temperature plant protection
➢ Reduction of nutrient loss of cattle feed- better silage & feed
➢ Greenhouses- cheaper & safer than glass
12
Agricultural Plastics
• Rigid Plastics– Containers (chemical, seed)-
• Blow molded, injection molded HDPE Pots
• Injection molded PP pots
• PS nursey pots, trays, flats and hoses
• Pesticide containers
• Liquid fertilizer containers & bags(LDPE, HDPE, PP)
• Film Plastics– Plastic bags (silage/grain)
– Bunker and hoop house covers, greenhouse films
– LDPE Plastic mulch
– Fumigation film
– Irrigation pipes & tubing, drip-tape
– Bale wraps, lumber wraps, vehicle and equipment wraps
– Woven super sacks ( animal feed bags, Onion bags)
– Mixed colored film sheets and bags
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Resin Types of Agricultural Plastics
14http://cleanfarms.ca/wp-
content/uploads/2017/07/AgPlasticEnviroImpactOpenBurning_FINAL_201107.pdf
What Happens to Agricultural Plastics After Usage?
• Agricultural Plastic Wastes (APW) are considered a category of low-value post-consumer plastics waste.
• APW is generated in varying types and quantities spatially and temporally.
• They have largely been ignored by recyclers and plastics industry
• Their use concentrated geographically in certain agricultural areas which creates both problem and opportunity for consolidation and processing for reutilization and recycling.
15Picture Credit: Lois Levitan, Cornell University, USA
https://www.nysar3.org/vs-uploads/conf_presentations_2014/1416863162_Bonhotal-Leonard.pdf
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What Happens to Agricultural Plastics After Usage?
Used Plastics
Linear Waste
Disposal
(Business-As-Usual)
Circular Carbon
Economy
CCE
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Business-as-Usual
18
Open Burning
19
➢ Emissions
- Dioxins, furans
- Particulates
- Heavy metals
- Residual ash
- Polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAH) from
incomplete combustion
➢ Contamination
- Nearby food and feed farming
Picture Credit: Lois Levitan, Cornell University, USA
https://www.nysar3.org/vs-uploads/conf_presentations_2014/1416863162_Bonhotal-Leonard.pdf
➢ Burning 10,000 pounds of agricultural plastic has the potential to contaminate
75,000 kg of soil from exposure to dioxins.
➢ The dioxins and furans are carcinogenic and likely play a role in endocrine
disruption.
20http://cleanfarms.ca/wp-
content/uploads/2017/07/AgPlasticEnviroImpactOpenBurning_FINAL_201107.pdf
Pathways to Exposure to Pollutants from Burning Agricultural Plastics
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On-Site Burial
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• Soil contamination by microplastics: pose a threat to soil biodiversity and
ecosystem functioning
• In European agricultural lands, microplastic loadings have been estimated at
between 63,000 and 430,000 tons/ year*
• 700 and 4000 plastic particles /kg of soil
• Once in the soil, microplastics can easily be ingested by soil-living organisms,
potentially affecting their fitness, survival and performance of microbial activity
• Contamination of phthalates and bisphenol A by decomposition of plastics in
ground.Boots, B., et al., 2019, “Effects of Microplastics in Soil Ecosystems : Above and below ground”, Environmental Science & Technology, 53, 11496-11506.
• The impacts of microplastics in soils, sediments and freshwater could have a long-term damaging effect on terrestrial ecosystems.
• Adverse effects on organisms, such as soil-dwelling invertebrates and fungi, needed for important ecosystem services and functions.
• Up to 895 microplastic particles per kilogram have been found in organic fertilisers used in agricultural soils.
• Up to 730,000 tons of microplastics are transferred every year to agricultural lands in Europe and North America from urban sewage sludge used as farm manure, with potentially direct effects on soil ecosystems, crops and livestock or through the presence of toxic chemicals.
• Threat from microplastics to terrestrial ecosystem, especially agricultural soils could lead to further land degradation affecting food production.
• Plant uptake of microplastics from contaminated soils caused by . use of plastics in agriculture. i.e plastic mulches, in greenhouses and various coverings, cause contamination of agricultural soils. 23
• Landfilling plastics with other wastes
• Old Technology
• Wasteful application.
24
Landfill Disposal
➢ If a landfill is not lined as bioreactor landfill, soil
contamination occurs similar to burial on-site of plastics.
25
Illegal Dumping
Picture Credit: Melissa Kono, University of Wisconsin, USA
Illegal dumping also creates environmental problems
Incineration of Plastics for Energy
• Old Technology
• Resources are Wasted
• Dirtier than Renewables and Natural Gas to Energy
26
27
What Happens to Agricultural Plastics After Usage?
Credit: Lois Levitan, Cornell University, USA
What Happens to Agricultural Plastics After Usage?
Biggest barriers to recycling:
- Contamination (dirt, debris, seed, fertilizer & pesticide, and pathogens)
- Too bulky
- Mostly dark colored
- Physically degraded
- Costly ( collection and transportation)
- Dispersed across the rural landscape
--------
In California, the tipping fee is $110 and a grower with 1,000 Acres would create 1,000 tons plastic waste and would cost to grower $110,000/year to dispose it off. 28
Who is responsible?
• Everyone!
– Plastics Industry -Farm Plastics Manufacturer-Should ensure that when plastic waste is back to plant in the acceptable form
– Consumer-Farmer- Should ensure that workers collect the waste in the acceptable form
– Waste Collector- Should ensure he/she should not collect waste in the unacceptable form
– Regulator- Should ensure that responsibility is shared by everyone (carrot & stick approach!)
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What Happens to Agricultural Plastics After Usage?
30
Open
Burning
On-site
Burial
Landfilling
Illegal
Dumping
Incineration
for Energy
Generation
Recycling
Picture Credit: Adapted and Revised from Lois Levitan, Cornell University, USA
Collect,
Sort,
Transport
Power
Plant
Plastics
Manufacturing Re-feeding
plastics into
manufacturing
New
Products
31
Linear Economy Resource Management with Recycling Approach
Big Problem of Contamination- Caused by single stream recycling
What is Circular Carbon Economy?
• Refers to an “economic system based on reuse of products and raw materials together and protect natural resources.”
• Attempts to minimize value destruction in the overall system and maximize value creation.
• The goal is to counteract depletion of natural resources, reduce GHG emissions and use of hazardous substances, eliminate waste, and make a complete transition to renewable and sustainable energy supplies”.
• Promoting combined understanding of circularity and a lower-carbon economy as “circular carbon economy” and transforming the linear make-it /use-it/dispose-it pathway to a circular resource recovery pathway can be an effective pathway for mitigating climate change within a lower-carbon economy.
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Closing the Loop for Resource Recovery
33
Circular Carbon Economy
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Mechanical Recycling
• Waste plastics are recycled into “new” (secondary) raw materials without changing the basic structure of the polymer.
• Mixed plastics pass through manual or automated mechanical sorting processes.
• The proper identification of materials is essential for achieving a maximized purity of recyclates.
• Various technologies near infrared spectroscopy (NIR), laser or x-ray techniques are available. After cleaning and grinding processes, the material is recovered by remelting and regranulating.
• The resulting recyclates can be processed with all common technologies of plastics conversion.
35
36
Source Waste Plastics
Products from Recycled Plastics
Gu.F., Guo, J., Zhang, W., Summers, P.A., and Hall, P., 2017, “From waste plastics to industrial raw materials: A life cycle assessment of mechanical plastic recycling practice
based on a real-world case study”, Science of the Total Environment, 601-602, 1192-1207
37https://hayandforage.com/article-483-ag-plastic-recycling-remains-a-challenge.html
Thermochemical Recycling
• Through Gasification and Pyrolysis, plastic waste can be converted into chemical intermediates and building blocks that can displace virgin fossil feedstocks.
• Pyrolysis- Mixed plastics pyrolysis with or without catalysis can utilize plastics as feedstock for BTX aromatics which are fundamental building blocks of many chemicals and products.
• Gasification- Product syngas (CO +H2) can be further processed into chemicals and fuels. Through synthesis platform chemicals such as Methanol be produced from syngas. Methanol-to olefins and new products.
38
We Need to Plan Ahead!
• Short term
– Engage decision & policy makers
– Avoid contamination
– Improved collection and sorting
– Enable secondary markets
– Innovative thinking to reduce the leakage of plastics into the natural systems
39
We Need to Plan Ahead!
• Mid- & long-term
– Innovative thinking in creation of after-use plastics economy
– Investment on better packaging
– Policies and Intervention for decoupling plastics from fossil feedstocks
– R&D on renewable feedstocks for plastics
– Decouple plastics from fossil feedstocks
40
Creating an effective regulatory, management and implementation infrastructure is key to the successful achievement of Circular-Carbon-Economy Goals
1) Institutional infrastructure2) Regulations3) Market-based incentives4) Market transformation through technological innovation
A systems approach is needed to identify where the largest opportunities are, and more importantly, how various strategies and policies might impact each other.
Every New Emerging Solution Requires
- Successful demonstration
- Technology Push & Policy Pull
- Participation & markets
- Education & Outreach
- Correct messaging to avoid misinterpretation
- Reliable transparent data
42
43Zheng, J. and Suh, S., 2019, “Strategies to reduce the global carbon footprint of
plastics”, Nature Climate Change, 9, 374-378.
• The recycling process
itself generated 49
MtCO2e.
• If the displacement of
carbon intensive virgin
polymer production by
recyclates is practiced
the GHG emissions of
recycling would go
down to negative 67
MtCO2e
• Total GHG reduction
would have been: 49
+67= 116 MtCO2e
Economic
Cost (up-front investment, risks)
Assessing financial benefits of circular economy
Assessing financial profitability
Structural
Lack of understanding & participation (Business,
consumer and decision makers
Achieving exchange of information
Defining responsibility distribution
Operational
Complex international production & consumption
supply-chains
Redefining the infrastructure
Strong supply chain
Knowledge & Behavior
Need for knowledge and capacity for implementation
Need for education
Perception of sustainability
Behavior change
Technological
Need for innovative technologies
New product design to absorb waste resources
Integration into processing
Environmental Assessment Correct LCA of circular approaches
Need for Regulations Lack of standards, monitoring & reporting
44
Circular Resource & Carbon Management Challenges
Guran, S., 2019, “Options to feed plastic waste back into the manufacturing industry to achieve circular carbon economy” AIMS Environmental Science, 6(5): 341-355. DOI:
10.3934/environsci.2019.5.341
Solutions for Consideration
• Sustainable Business models
• Consumer & Business partnership for urban –industrial symbiosis
• Education & Outreach
• Policy– Surcharges
– Taxes, extended producer responsibility
– Standards for circular design plastics
– Ban on certain types of plastics
– Science-based decision making
46
Rutgers EcoComplex
